Reviewer: Andy Burton (November 2010)
What’s in the Box?
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The kit is very well packaged and like most of the Tamiya 1:48 AFV’s in this range has a pre primed die-cast metal chassis that is securely packaged in its own container within the box. The upper hull is one piece and is moulded to a short sprue [F] of its own.
There are four sprues of parts, two of these consist mainly of the link and length Tracks, Road wheels, Sprockets and Idlers and account for about half of the 150 or so parts total.
Contained in their own little poly bags are 4 x large poly caps for attaching the sprockets, 4 x small poly caps for the gun cradle and 2 x small screws for attaching the lower and upper hulls. 1 x decal sheet with 4 vehicle options, a length of nylon cord to make the tow cables up and a very clear and well printed instruction booklet.
Accuracy
Only the late type engine intake grills are provided so fitting the earlier design three and one exhaust pipes as used in vehicle options A, C and the one featured on the box art work would be incorrect. The large flame dampener exhausts as shown on vehicle option B are correct for the late engine intake grills and fitting the raised heater unit on the left of the engine deck [also option B] is more appropriate to a late Jagdpanther than the two low fan covers.
Late version Jagdpanthers also had all their tools relocated to the engine deck and rear plate and none on the hull sides so if you want an accurate late model you would have to relocate them all.
The engine deck plates should have raised bolt heads instead of the flush countersunk ones moulded on the kit. Tracks have solid guide horns, Sprockets and road wheels are detailed on the outsides only.
Fit
Dry fitting of the major parts is good but the join between the two plastic front plates glued to the metal hull will require some filler. All the parts that are superglued to the metal hull fit well but again might need some filler here and there. The gun mount is supposed to be held in place by clipping in a bracket part C4 below the lower mounting plate C9 but it won’t fit unless you cut out a small notch from the back of part C4, this appears to have been missed by Tamiya. The tracks are link and length and there is a small tab moulded inside the idlers to locate the first section to be fitted, they also look to fit with the right amount of sag for a Jagdpanther.
Quality
The overall quality of the kit is of the usual high standard to be expected from Tamiya with the exceptions listed above. Other short comings are: The hatches all have solid grab handles and will look better removed and replaced with wire ones. There are no engine deck grill screens but these are available in etched brass, Periscopes are missing but are simple to add, Tracks have ejector pin marks on the inner face that will need to be filled and the main gun is in two halves but if treated correctly will join seamlessly.
Instructions
The instructions are of the familiar Tamiya format and are very clearly printed and easy to understand. The fitting of the link and length tracks in section 3 looks well thought out and clearly shown in a logical sequence, you should not have a problem with the tracks if you follow the instructions. There are painting and markings guides for 3 vehicles at the back of the booklet but as mentioned before I suspect that only one of these [option B] is appropriate to a late type Jagdpanther.
Decals
Look nicely printed with good colours and of usual Tamiya quality, If these are the same as those supplied in other kits of this range they will go on nicely over a gloss varnish with a decal setting solution, sealed and then matt varnished to finish.
There are options for 4 vehicles: Vehicle No. 131, as box art. Vehicle No. 121, unit unknown, late 1944. Vehicle No. 212, unit unknown. And Vehicle No. 102, Kompanie 1, sPzJgAbt 560, Ardennes 1944 December.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier there are faults with this model in its accuracy as a Late model Jagdpanther and the obvious ones have been pointed out. For those who want to build an accurately detailed model then most of the faults in this kit can be rectified.
Those who just want to build a good quality kit out of the box that fits together nicely with minimum fuss and aren’t too bothered by accuracy or extra detailing will find this kit very enjoyable to build and will have a nice looking 1:48th Jagdpanther at the end.
Recommended.
